Reflecting on my Model of Teaching

I like the old adage that states: "Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand." I want my students to be involved so that they can understand what I’m teaching. The model of teaching that will help me to achieve that is the inquiry model. According to Joe Exline, inquiry implies involvement that leads to understanding. Furthermore, involvement in learning implies possessing skills and attitudes that permit you to seek resolutions to questions and issues while you construct new knowledge.

 Through my research readings on this model, I was not able to find a step- by- step lesson plan which led me to the constructivist model that uses inquiry to achieve its primary goal: teaching students how to learn. This model concentrates on learning how to think and understand. The teacher’s role is interactive, rooted in negotiation and students are active participants in the learning process. Students have the opportunity of reflecting on new information and they can either add it on their previous ideas and experiences, change what they believe, or discard it. This gives students ownership of what they learn.

We live in a fast paced modern society, globally networked, technologically oriented which requires workers who can problem solve and think critically. Using the constructivist model will provide my students different ways of viewing the world and how things work so that they can be able to successfully cope with issues of daily living.

Reference

Workshop: Inquiry-based Learning and Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning. (2004).
Retrieved September 29, 2011, from Education Broadcasting Corporation
website: http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/
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